Andy Carroll looks set to be handed his maiden England call-up after the Newcastle striker was left out of the U21 squad for Tuesday's friendly in Germany!!!
Carroll has been widely tipped to be selected by Fabio Capello for Wednesday's senior friendly against France and his omission from the Young Lions party will only serve to fuel that speculation.
However, the 21-year-old was also left out by head coach Stuart Pearce for last month's UEFA U21 Championship play-off with Romania and that did not lead to a call-up from Capello.
Pearce reportedly axed Carroll from the Romania matches after being unhappy about the nature of his withdrawal from September's Under-21 Championship qualifiers against Portugal and Lithuania.
As well as taking the Premier League by storm since Newcastle's promotion - scoring seven goals in 12 appearances - Carroll has made headlines off the field for all the wrong reasons this season.
But this does not look like putting off Capello, who is desperate to find a top-class foil for Wayne Rooney.
Jack Wilshere also looks set to keep his place in the senior squad after being left out by Pearce, who today handed three players their maiden U21 call-ups for Tuesday's game in Wiesbaden.
Chelsea midfielder Josh McEachran, 17, Swansea striker Scott Sinclair, 21, and Manchester City defender Ben Mee, 21, were named in what was a small 20-man squad.
Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell was also back in the fold after recovering from the ankle injury which has sidelined him since August.
City's Micah Richards was back after missing the Romania games through injury, but there was no place for Blackburn defender Phil Jones, Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson or Watford goalkeeper Scott Loach, which may mean they are being considered by Capello for the senior game.
Former Chelsea striker Sinclair was rewarded for the form that has seen him score 11 times for Swansea this season.
McEachran, who helped England lift the European U17 Championship earlier this year, recently made his Premier League and Champions League debut for Chelsea.
Mee, who played at last year's U20 World Cup in Egypt, has made one appearance for City this season.
Pearce, whose side this week drew Spain, Czech Republic and Ukraine at next summer's U21 Championship, said: "It's only a small squad but we want to make sure that everyone has the possibility of getting some game time.
"Fabio picking one or two to step up into the seniors might mean we'll be short of a few of those players, so it's given me an opportunity to look at some who are not playing regularly at their clubs and need to get some football with us.
"One or two who have played a lot for their clubs will also get a little break if they're not needed with the seniors."
Tuesday's match is a repeat of last summer's U21 Championship final, which saw England thrashed 4-0.
However, Germany failed to qualify for next year's showpiece.
Pearce added: "They'll probably blood a lot of their next clutch of players and they'll have a lot to prove.
"Germany are very much unknown to us at this stage.
"By not qualifying this time around, their focus will be sharpened for the next campaign."
England U21 squad for friendly against Germany in Wiesbaden
Frank Fielding (Blackburn), Jason Steele (Middlesbrough); Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Martin Kelly (Liverpool), Michael Mancienne (Chelsea), Micah Richards (Man City), Chris Smalling (Man Utd), Kyle Walker (Tottenham), Ben Mee (Man City); Marc Albrighton (Aston Villa), Tom Cleverley (Man Utd), Jack Cork (Chelsea), Henri Lansbury (Arsenal), Josh McEachran (Chelsea), Fabrice Muamba (Bolton), Jack Rodwell (Everton), Danny Rose (Tottenham); Nathan Delfouneso (Aston Villa), Scott Sinclair (Swansea), Danny Welbeck (Man Utd).
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